Pump-piston and packing therefor.



PATENTED JUNE 12, 1906.

W. M. MALONEY. PUMP PISTON AND PACKING THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9,1905.

STATES PA-TENT oFFIoE.

WILLIAM M. MALONEY, OF CHIPMONK, NEW YORK.

PUMP-PISTON AND PACKING THEREFOR.

Patented June 12, 1906.

Application filed June 9, 1905. Serial No. 264,419.

To all whom it may concern.-

1 Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. MALONEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chipmonk, in the county of Cattaraugus and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pump-Pistons and Packing Therefor, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Figure l is a longitudinal elevation. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal diametrical section. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line a; 00, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an elevation of one face of the packing-follower. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of said follower. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the ball-cage on line y 1 Fig. 2.

1 My invention relates to packing for the pistons of pumps, and more particularly to these pistons as used in deep wells for oil or water; and the object of my invention is to provide a packing for such pistons which will operate perfectly when the oil or water carries a large amount of sand in suspension therein, which will last for a much greater length of time, and which will expand to take up wear and also at any downward stroke of the piston.

To this end my invention consists in certain constructions and arrangement of parts,

as will be more full described hereinafter and distinctly set orth in the appended claims. i

Referring to the drawings, where like numerals designate like parts, 2 designates a central tube of any suitable length screwthreaded at its upperend, as at 2, for engagement with a head 3. The bore of the head is enlarged at its lower end for the reception of tube 2 and is interiorly screw-threaded to engage with said tube. The head extends rear- Wardly beyond said enlargement, where it is exteriorly screw-threaded, as at 3, to engage with a valve-cage 4, within which is contained the ball-valve 5"; The exterior of head 3 below the threads 3 is polygonal, whereby a wrench may be applied to the head and the parts detached. At its lower end thetube 2 has connected to it by a pin 7 the foot-piece 7, of any ordinary construction.

So far I have described what is common to nearly all deep-well pumping-pistons, these parts being used in connection with a packing fitting around the tube between the head 3 and foot-piece 7 and having contact with the piping of the well. Ordinarily this packing consists of rings of leather, rubber, or like material, which when the water contains floating sand soon wear out and become useless through the scoring action of the sand, the usual longitudinally-curved general contour of the packing and the rounded corners of the individual rings allowing said sand to collect and wedge into the packing-space and to be moved with or against the face of the packing, to its constant damage. In order to prevent this action of the sand and to form a close and smooth contact between the piston and the well-tube, I use a coiled metal packing whose abutting faces are constantly pressed together and whose angular corners scrape the sand ahead of the packing.

8 designates such a spiral or coil as I have above referred to, which is held between a follower or expander 9, which fits somewhat loosely about the central tube 2, and a ring or washer 10, of leather, rubber, or other suitable material, which also surrounds and rests upon the central tube. Intermediate the central tube and the metal packing coil or coils 8 is a resilient packing 11, preferably of rubber tubing, which fits over the tube 2. The lower end of this packing rests upon the washer 10, and at its upper end on its inner surface it is channeled annularly or rovided with wedge-shaped recesses 1 1 for t e rece tion of the Wedge-shaped rojections 9 of t e follower or expander 9. I projections as being four in number; but it is to be understood that while this is preferable, for the reason that a number of separate projections hold the rubber packing and the coil from turning, yet the expanding portion of the follower might be made tubular and project into an annular recess in the packing 11. 9 represents recesses in the exterior of the head of the expander, the bottom of the recess being at an angle to the axis of the expander and the recess beingextended to the upper edge of the said expander. These recesses might be of any shape but the form I deem best is that of a dart or half of a sharply-angled pyramid whose base is nearly at right angles with the axis thereof.

The coiled packing 8 is tapered at its ends, as shown in Fig. 1, so that a flat bearing edgeis formed at either end of the packing, which fits at its lower end closely against the washer 10 and at its upper end fits more or less closely against the annular shoulder 9 on the expander 9, enough play being left have shown these I between the shoulder and the packing to allow the expander a slight movement into the rubber packing-tube 11.

While I do not wish to be limited in the material I may use, I preferably make the coil 8 of metal wound from a straight bar. The abutting faces of the coil are made per-" fectly flat to seat smoothly on each other and to make as close and flush a joinder on the outer face of the coil as possible. I may use only one coil; but I prefer to use two, the inner'coil 8 being somewhat thinner than the outer and so placed with relation thereto that it will break joints with it.

The ball-cage 4 is of the ordinary construction of such cages as used with deep-well mechanism and is provided at its upper end with any suitable means of attachment to the sucker-rod, as by the screw-threaded end 4. Within the cage is the ball 5,which seats upon the end of head 3. Above the ball is located a spiral spring 6, sufliciently large at its lower end to form a seat for the ball when the same is forced from its seat. This spring is slightly tapering and is carried by a screwlug 6, which screws into a recess 4 in the liead of the cage. It is to be noted that the spring 6 does not extend so far downward that it presses the ball into the seat, though it maybe adjusted to do this, if desired. The oil pumped up in oil-Wells always contains more or less paraffin and other substances of like nature which coat the interior of the cage and tend to hold the ball up in the cage, thus allowing the liquid to run back through the valve. The spring 6 prevents this, while allowing the ball all the needed play.

In operation the tubular piston is reciprocated in the well-tube by the suckerrod. Beneath the moving piston is the reg ular standing or foot valve commonly used in deep wells of this character. On the downward motion of my piston the liquid between it and the standing valve forces up the ball 5. When the piston has reached the end of its downward movement and begins to rise, the ball closes against its seat, and thus the liquid above the piston is lifted. The pressure of the liquid as the piston is being raised is downward and acts against the ends of recesses 9 to force the lateral expander into the resilient packing 11, thus ongitudinally compressing and widening out the same and the surrounding coil or coils 8 and 8. It will be noted that one of the special advantages of the coil-packing 8 is its freedom of expansion without any break in its continuity. It is particularly desirable in these wells that the packing should expand on the upstroke, so as to hold the water carried above the piston.

Another advantage of my construction is that the coil fits the pump barrel or pipe perfectly and that as the ends of the coil are flat and the corners, therefore, sharp the packing acts to carry the sand and other foreign sub stances aheadof the valve. Asbefore explained, this is something not accomplished by any other pump-piston packing known to me. Again, by covering the resilient packing with a sheath of metal I get elasticity without softness, and this can only be practically accomplished by the use of a coiled sheath. If the packing were of metal rings, it' 'could not be expansible unless they were split, and in that event the sand would creep up through the joints into the packing. In addition to this the torsion of the metal coil acts to make the joints close without the necessity of any longitudinal pressure or any refitting. It adapts itself to the pumpbarrel, and thus when the barrel becomes worn at any one place the piston may be lifted, so that its area of strokes passes over another section of the barrel, when it will operate as perfectly as ever.

Another most important advantage resident to my invention is that the coil can be changed, when worn, as readily as a leather packing and that by reason of the yielding nature of the coil and the resilient packing beneath it cannot get stuck at any point in the pump-barrel. It will give to any irregularities, so that it may be readily moved from one part of the pump-barrel to another. This is not the case with any pump-piston packing known to me. Where there is no floating sand, the coil is advantageously used, as it works as smoothly as the pistonrings of an engine, and even more so, because the water on the well-tube keeps the contacting surfaces constantly lubricated.

The coils are preferably made of iron, steel, or brass and are of such dimensions as may be best suited to the requirements of any special work.

I do not Wish to be limited to the exact details I have shown, as there are many modifications which might be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. A pump-piston packing consisting of a coil of metal having flat abutting edges and square corners; in combination with means for expanding the said coil, substantially as described.

2.. A pump-piston packing consisting of an outer coil of metal and an inner coil; breaking joints of said outer coil, each of said coils having flat abutting edges and square corners; in combination with means for expanding said coils, substantially as described.

3. A pump-piston packing consisting of an outer coil of metal having flat abutting edges and square corners and an inner sleeve of resilient packing material; in combination with means for expanding said sleeve and coil, substantially as described.

4. A pump-piston packing consisting of an outer coil of metal having flat abutting edges and square corners; an inner sleeve of resilient packing material; and an expander acting against the said inner sleeve to expand the same, substantially as described.

5. In a pump-piston, a central tube; a resilient expanslble sleeve surrounding said tube; a coil of packing material surrounding said inner sleeve and a tapered expander entering said inner sleeve and adapted to expand the same, substantially as described.

6. In a pump-piston, a central longitudinal tube; a surrounding sleeve of rubber or other resilient expansible material; an outer sheathing of metal surrounding the said rubber and expansible With the same; and means for expanding the rubber sleeve, substantially as described.

7. In a pump-piston, a central longitudinal tube; a resilient packing of rubber or other relatively soft expansible material surrounding said tube; an outer expansible sheathing surrounding said packing material and adapted to expand with the same Without break in its continuity, substantially as described.

8. In a pump-piston, a central longitudinal tube; a surrounding sleeve of resilient packing material; and an expander mounted upon the said tube and free to move thereon against the resilient acking-sleeve, the said expander being providhd with recesses adapted to be acted upon by the fluid being pumped to force the said expander into the packing material and expand the same against the pump-barrel, substantially as described.

9. In a pump-piston, a central tube and a surrounding sleeve of resilient packing material; and an expander mounted to move on said sleeve against the said packing material, the expander'being provided with a plurality of projections having wedged-shaped faces adapted to enter recesses in the said packing and to force out the same when the said ex pander is moved inward, substantially as de scribed.

10. In a pump-piston, in combination with a central tube; suitable packing surrounding the same; a ball-valve cage attached to one end of the central tube; a ball therein and a spring located above the ball but free therefrom, substantially as described.

1 1. In a pump-piston, a central tube a footpiece attached thereto at one end; a head-nut having screw-threaded engagement with the central tube at the other end thereof aleather ring surrounding the central tube at its junction with the foot-piece; a sleeve of resilient packing material surrounding said central tube above the leather ring; an outer coil of metal surrounding the packing-sleeve having fiat abutting edges an intermediate metal coil between the outer coil and the said packingsleeve breaking joints with the first-named sleeve and having fiat abutting edges; an ex pander surrounding the said central tube and located above the said packing-sleeve and coils and having a tapered projection entering into a recess in the said packing-sleeve; and recesses in the outer face of the expander adapted to receive the pressure of water whereby the expander may be forced downwardly against said packing; a cage connected to the said head-nut a ball located in said cage; and an adjustable spring located in the end of the cage above said ball but not touching the same but adapted to force the ball back in position when it is raised too high from its seat, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM M. MALONEY.

Witnesses:

D. P. LEAREY, P. H. MALONEY. 

